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Public Hearing held for Gardner 42 on April 16
City Council approved the Gardner 42 rezoning on May 7
Pending rezonings in the city of Locust Grove will add over five million square feet of new industrial warehouse space covering 391 acres. The projects front the I-75 corridor between Bill Gardner Parkway and Bethlehem Road.
The first project, known as Gardner 42, includes 120.1 acres located north of Marketplace Blvd and east of I-75. The development’s access points will be on US 23 / SR 42. The site plan shows two warehouses for a combined two million square feet of industrial space.
The second project runs along Price Drive on the west side of the interstate. The first phase of the ClayCo development received approval in 2016. The project covered 79.4 acres and has built a one-million square foot warehouse. An additional five warehouses covering 271 acres are proposed in phase II. The new phase is set to build 3.3 million square feet of industrial space.
The most-northern portion of phase II conflicts with the proposed I-75 exit at Bethlehem Road. Current plans for the exit involve a new four-lane Bethlehem Road built to the south of the existing road. At least one of the proposed warehouses is in the project right-of-way. The city and developer are working together to preserve the required land.
The projects are estimated to generate over 10,000 new daily vehicle trips to the Locust Grove area. Approximately 3,000 of the trips will be truck traffic. The projects are well-positioned to take advantage of the future Bethlehem Road exit slated for construction in 2023-2025 but will add to the existing volumes on Bill Gardner Parkway until that time.
An additional traffic concern is the intersection of Bethlehem Rd and US 23 / SR 42. The traffic studies from both projects concluded this intersection is not performing adequately. The studies recommended either a traffic signal or roundabout. There are no immediate plans to address this because of the I-75 interchange project. The rebuilt Bethlehem Road will intersect US 23 / SR 42 north of the existing location.
The Gardner 42 traffic study also concluded Marketplace Blvd at US 23 / SR 42 does not function adequately during the evening peak hours. Locust Grove is coordinating with Georgia DOT for the future installation of a roundabout at this location.
Gardner 42 is scheduled for a public hearing at the Locust Grove city council meeting on April 16 at 6 pm. The address is 3640 Georgia 42 S, Locust Grove, GA 30248 located at the public safety building.
Update: ClayCo phase II was advertised in the Henry Herald for a public hearing on April 16, but was not heard. The project has not been scheduled as of August 15, 2018 but is expected to be heard before year end.
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